Are you in compliance?

Enforcement Action

Jaclyn Jaeger is an Editor at Compliance Week. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, regulatory enforcement matters, risk management, technology, and more. Jaeger welcomes questions and comments from readers; she can be reached via e-mail at jaclyn.jaeger@complianceweek.com.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently slapped a $1 million civil money penalty on Sparks Nugget casino for willfully violated the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act. “Despite the fact that it hosted convicted embezzlers and had been repeatedly alerted to suspicious transactions by its own BSA compliance manager, Sparks saw no need to re-think its AML defenses,” FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery said in a statement.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week said it is withdrawing three findings and related proposed rulemakings under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, after having determined that the subjects of the rulemakings no longer pose a money laundering threat to the U.S. financial system.

Compliance officers, beware: the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s increasingly aggressive push to combat money laundering has entered a new phase, and this time it has its sights on high-end real estate transactions. “We are seeking to understand the risk that corrupt foreign officials, or transnational criminals, may be using premium U.S. real estate to secretly invest millions in dirty money,” FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery said in a statement.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week announced its first settlement with, and assessment against, a “card club” gaming establishment for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The settlement and FinCEN’s assessment requires Oaks Card Club to pay a fine of $650,000 for willful violations of the BSA.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network fined Ripple Labs and its subsidiary, XRP II, $700,000 for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act while engaging in the exchange of virtual currency and for failing to establish and maintain an appropriate anti-money laundering program—the first civil enforcement action against a virtual currency exchanger. More inside.

Expect a greater focus on the use of real estate holdings as a vehicle for money laundering, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, director of FinCEN, said recently. The goal: “Make it more difficult for criminals to hide their purchases of luxury real estate through the use of shell companies.” Moreover, she added that this flavor of money laundering “is not a new issue.” More inside.